On Monday, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson proposed a pair of bills that would ban the sale or limit possession of so-called “assault weapons.” Modeled after similar legislation in Connecticut and New York, the first bill would ban the sale of certain semi-automatic rifles and wrongly named “high-capacity” magazines. The second bill, Ferguson’s back-up plan, would still allow for the sale of these guns, but would require a special license to do so and would raise the age limit to 21.
“Military-style weapons are designed for killing people,” chided Ferguson. “These weapons have no place in civilian use.”
Except, of course, they do. AR-15s are the most popular rifle in America, with many gun owners choosing ARs for home defense. They are also used for competition and hunting. In fact, the only group who shies away from AR-15s are the non-law-abiding—criminals far prefer handguns over so-called “assault weapons.”
